Greek police are investigating three olive oil robbery incidents that occurred over the past few weeks, two of them involved stealing the olive oil at gunpoint.
Armed in Thessaloniki
One incident occurred after a delivery man traveled to an undisclosed location in Thessaloniki to make a large delivery of olive oil. According to the Greek newspaper DefenceNet, when the delivery man arrived at the site, four men forced him to hand over the olive oil as well as some other food products at gunpoint. The total value of the goods stolen was reportedly worth 4,000 euros.
The second armed robbery involving olive oil took place in at the EKO sports arena where olive oil was being stored. Various news sources reported that in broad daylight, six armed men allegedly stole a total of 50 crates filled with bottles of olive oil. Witnesses later told police they saw the gunmen loading the boxes into an unmarked van without license plates.
Patras Robbery
In the Western Peloponnese city of Patras, police are investigating a third olive oil robbery where thieves stole large, heavy tanks of olive oil from an elderly resident’s storage area in the suburb of Saraveli. According to a local news report, the elderly woman told police she had left her home for a short time on a Saturday night only to return to find her storage shed had been broken into. Thieves had managed to take several large and heavy tanks filled olive oil and a few tools. The burglars didn’t break into the main house.
According to the the Top 7 Patras article, “It’s an example of the poverty that exists today in our society.”
The recent olive oil robberies follow the news of other olive oil related crimes that took place in both Thessaloniki and Athens earlier in the summer. Greek police had made several arrests in both cities related to two separate olive oil fraud rings.
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